3 Dilo’s magic power

     There were times when the sea became cloudy and Dilo could not see very far underwater. He soon discovered that this did not matter because he had a very special magic power. It told him what was in front of him, even when he could not detect it with his eyes. Dilo would make a sound that only dolphins can make and send it out into the sea; then he would listen. When the sound came back it was like an echo but different, and told him what was there. The sound echoed so quickly it was almost like switching on a powerful torch in the darkness. So special was his magic power that it also told him what things were made of and what was inside them.

     From the moment Dilo was born his mother talked to him. She did not use words, or sentences, or anything like human speech, so it would be correct to say she communicated with him. Sometimes she would use sound pictures.
When she saw a fish, Dilo’s mother would send out a sound beam and the echo would give her a sound picture. If she wanted to tell Dilo about the fish she would mimic the echo and he would see the fish as if with his own magic sound beam. Slowly Dilo learnt how to make sound pictures himself. That was just one of the things he was learning as he grew up. There were many more.

     The seabed in the bay where Dilo was born was mostly flat and sandy. There were also many rocks covered with seaweed. At the edge of the bay a huge rock rose right out of the sea and disappeared into the other world above them. That was the strange world where they went to get a breath of air. When he rose to the surface near the rock Dilo could see strange animals moving through the air.

     “That rock is called Gull Rock,” Dilo’s mother informed him.

     “It is part of what we call ‘The Other World’. One day I will tell you about ‘The Other World’.
But first you must learn about our own world in the sea. Come with me and I will show you.”

     Dilo and his mother set off together to swim over the sandy seabed around the bay. Before long they came across a small comical creature walking sideways on six armoured legs. When the creature saw them coming, it moved faster and faster until it was running so fast that its feet seemed barely to touch the sand. But it could not run as fast as dolphins can swim, and in a moment they were over the top of it, looking down on front flipper waving up towards them.

     Dilo’s mother told him it was a swimming crab.

     “Good morning Swimming Crab, “ said Dilo in his own language which nobody, not even his mother, understood.

     Dilo felt pleased with himself. He pretended he knew all about crabs. He heard a soft “Grrrr, Grrr, Grrr” sound coming through the water, and  without waiting to ask his mother, Dilo dived down to touch the crab with his beak. The crab grabbed hold of Dilo’s beak as tight as it could with one of its sharp flippers, and hung on. Ouch! shrieked Dilo as he swam back to his mother with the crab still pinching his beak and clinging on to it

     Dilo’s mother looked at him her eyes shining bright with laughter because he looked so funny. “Ouch,” shouted Dilo again, shaking his head. When he did this the crab let go and swam to the seabed, where its back legs began to work faster than ever. Dilo watched in amazement, for in what seemed like no time at all the little creature vanished from view.

     Dilo stayed very close to his mother touching her with his flippers. He could feel her laughter.

     “You must learn,” she said, “that when a crab waves at you with its claws it is not a sign of welcome.”

     “What does it mean then?” enquired Dilo.

     “Keep away, or I will pinch you.”

     “Oh, “ said Dilo.

     Then after a few moments he enquired,

     “Where has it gone?”

     “It’s gone down into the ‘Undersand World’.

     There are many creatures down there. Lots of them have shells. Come on, let’s see if we can find one that won’t bite you.

     Dilo stayed close beside his mother as she moved slowly over the sand. He could hear her making a creaking sound as she went. Then suddenly he heard the note of the creak change.

     “Stop here” she signalled. “Can you see that row of tiny bright eyes over there?” Dilo peered at the sand.

     “No I can’t,” he said, still looking as hard as he could.

     “Then watch carefully with your eyes as well as using your echo-sound.”

     Dilo’s mother moved forward and dived gently towards the seabed. Just before she reached the bottom Dilo spotted the row of bright sparkling eyes. Then they vanished as the shell snapped shut like the lid of a box. Dilo’s mother swam down and nudged the shell with her beak.

     With a “clop”, “clop”, “clop”, it lifted off the seabed. Opening and closing rapidly, the shell bobbed through the water for a short distance and then dropped back down again - as if it were exhausted. It was tightly shut and Dilo could see the shell very clearly now.

     “I can’t see the eyes any more,” said Dilo.

     “That is because the shell is frightened and is shut. It won’t open until we have gone away,” she continued.

     “Can all shellfish swim like that?” asked Dilo.

     “Oh no, that is one of a few that can,” she said, enjoying Dilo’s obvious interest in the great scallop as this particular shellfish was called.

     “I’m going to see if I can find another one, said Dilo.

     He moved forward and made a creaking sound like his mother. When he heard the sound change, he looked forward, and there in front of him was a row of bright eyes. He swam gently towards it to get a closer look. But as his shadow passed over the half-buried shell it shut with a quiet “clop”.

     Then he heard several more “clops”. He looked closely and saw that there was not just one shell, but many of them. When he approached slowly they just stayed still on the seabed. It was not until he fanned them with his flippers that they all decided he was dangerous and tried to swim away.

     “Clop”, “clop”, “clop”, “clop”. For a short time the undersea world was full of dancing scallops all going “clop”. Then they all dropped back down. They were exhausted and stayed still despite Dilo’s attempts to fan them into action again with his flippers.

     Dilo swam back to his mother.

     “Those Clop-Clop shells get tired very quickly,” he said.

     “They are not Clop-Clop shells, they are scallop shells,” she replied, sending him a sound picture of a scallop.

     “I think Clop-Clop is a better name,” said Dilo, mainly because he found it easier to go “clop”, “clop”, than to make a sound picture of a scallop.

To obtain your very own copy of ‘Dilo and the Call of the Deep’ by Horace Dobbs, go to the Dolphin Shop or order it from your local bookshop quoting ISBN 0-9522389-0-X (Watch Publishing)

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